it's towards northern florida, and southeast georgia. weather channel meteorologist jim cantore is live on sea island, georgia. with a good day to you, jim, things look nice right now but i know something is heading your way. are you feeling rough surf and winds already? >> oh, absolutely. alex. you're missing a good day on the beach, darling. but i want to share that with you. i'm standing in the middle of a freedermabrasion, because the wind is kicking up the sand. it's pretty nasty. because it's blowing from the northwest, it's blowing the sand back on to the beach. the place is absolutely packed here this weekend. people are getting in the water, even though the dangers of rip currents out there. i asked the emergency manager, are you going to close down the beaches like they did in south carolina. and he said, jim, we don't have the man power to do that. people are swimming at their own risk. we're asking them and you to tell them to stay out of the water. but people are going to do what people are going to do.

the waves are rolling in. the good news is we haven't seen too many people out too deep. the tide is coming in, it will continue to bring in the rough surf, we think this will only get worse. let's take a look at the satellite picture. this thing is about 180 miles wide. unlike a tropical system. purely tropical system, where all the energies are near the center. this is more spread out. we'll deal with about 18 hours of the worst of this. the west side is dry, that's why we don't have any rain right now. the center comes ashore. the east side is much wetter. tonight and tomorrow, even after the center comes ashore, that's when we expect the heaviest rain to be with us. and because it's going to come west and then slightly turn off to the north and east, it's going to be with us for a while. hopefully by the time all is said and done people will say i salvaged two out of three days here on a memorial weekend, no bad and the drought area which is some of the worst in the southeast, will get some beneficial rain.

it won't alleviate the entire drought but a lot of people are going to get beneficial rain. >> what's concerning is there isn't the manpower to let people know what is coming. but first of all, you're like a beacon of bad news. people see jim cantore and they're thinking, oh no, we might not want to be here. do you think the winds you were describing, the fact that these people are getting dermabrasions as they're sitting along the shoreline, do you think they'll high-tail it out when they need to and you're not too worried about it? >> well here's what i'm worried about. i'm worried about people saying after about four or five hours of cabin fever tomorrow, they'll be like, i've had enough of the rain, and they head out and it's still bad. still windy, 30 to 50-mile-per-hour gusts, we'll have some potential for small tree limbs to be down. we've already got power outages, the 30 to 50-mile-per-hour winds, the good news is they're note getting dermabrasion because everybody is looking at water not at me. >> we're going to cut you loose.

jim can torre,ry, good to see you. to get the latest updates on tropical storm beryl, visit weather.com. new calls for an international spos after deadly violence in syria. today the u.s. is condemning what is being called a massacre which left at least 92 dead, 32 of them young children under the age of 10. and president obama may propose a new plan to force syrian president assad from power. nbc's amann is in syria for us. how could this kind of massacre happen? >> good afternoon, alex. depending on who you ask, two very different narratives. it's also difficult to report inside syria, because the information trickles out from activists and those clearly against the regime. this has been substantiated by u.n. observers on the ground. the images of the children very disturbing. it seems that the syrian

military shelled the town of hula, followed by armed thugs loyal to the regime who entered the town, carrying out this almost street-by-street, house-by-house massacre that raised the death toll to being as high as it was. from the syrian government's side, they are blaming armed terrorists, they say they've been fighting armed terrorists for the past 15 months. this is the latest example of the kind of violence that the syrian military is fighting against. but the reaction from the international community so far really pointing the finger at the syrian government and the syrian military. alex? >> u.n. efforts, ayman, are they felt at all there? >> well, if you ask the people on the ground, the u.n. has made very little difference in trying to stop the violence. to be specific, the u.n. job is to observe the cease-fire. they want to monitor and document the violations, but when they arrived on the ground, there was a decrease in the daily killings. there was decrease in the violence. now they've been on the ground for close to a month, the violence has spiked back up. so many people say that the u.n.

peace plan has all but fail and collapsed. it is now for a different type of intervention and that's what some of the arab league ministers coming to cairo in the next few days are planning on trying to raise. >> nbc's amen mohedn in cairo, thank you very much. diplomatic reaction to the violence is ramping up. u.s. secretary of state hillary clinton issued this statement, quote, those who perpetrated this atrocity must be identified and held to account. and the u.s. will work with the international community to intensify our pressure on assad and his cronies, whose rule by murder and fear must come to an end. afghanistan officials say an air strike in eastern afghanistan by a u.s.-led nato mission killed eight members of one family. the strike took place in paktia province, coalition forces were conducting an operation against insurgents in the area and investigation is now under way. let's go from there to

front-page politics and the fight for the white house is in full force this it weekend. both president obama and mitt romney hit the sunday talk show circuit pretty hard, here it is. >> totally committed to romney's election. i think given this economy, this level of unemployment, this level of deficits, it's very likely he will win and i think that you'll see it pull away in september and october. i have substantial respect for his ability as a leader to do the things he has to do to get the job done. >> we have put together the american people with effective leadership. 26 months in a row. of private-sector job growth. that record will be contrasted sharply to what mitt romney did as governor. which was in a relatively strong state, in a better time of our economy, to have that state ranked 47th out of 50 in job creation. >> a potentially significant milestone for mitt romney this week, when texas holds its republican primary on tuesday, with 152 delegates at stake.

texas is expected to put romney over the top, giving him the delegates needed for the republican nomination. the magic number to clinch that nomination is 1,144. as you see the numbers, romney has 1,084 delegates. joining me, deputy editor for the "washington post" ann cornblatt and jonathan alter. as we talk about newt gingrich who has attacked mitt romney relentlessly during the primary, certainly. what is your reaction when you hear from him that he is totally committed to mitt romney? >> well he knows what it's going to take to be relevant. i think the primaries are now over. they're pretty much long over. he wants to remain a prominent voice in the party. he became one during the primary after a pretty long period of being at the margins. i think he wants to be relevant. if not at the convention, although he could be. then just in general. i think being a forceful presence even on the sunday talk

shows is part of it. that's not to say. he's willing to set aside differences and go back into the regular republican fold. >> i happen to have caught him as he was leaving the nbc studios from "meet the press" with david gregory. i asked him, are you feeling it right here when you're out there campaigning for mitt romney. and he said to me, look, of course i'd rather it had been me. but he says, as opposed to having president obama, he goes absolutely i'm behind him. >> it's believable, given his ideology. certainly there were areas where he diverged and he's been out of the republican fold at times on issues, but fundamentally, he's a republican and he and mitt romney are going to be like-minded. >> is this politics as usual, jonathan? you have this crazy time during the primaries, everybody criticizes each other and all of a sudden there's some kumbayah moments going on. >> i think it does happen in the

parties, as we get closer to the election, people sort of pull together it may even be happening in the arena of super pacs, alex, these super pacs that are flooding the process with the so-called independent expenditures. the campaigns don't have any direct control over them. much bigger on the republican side. but what we saw last week, when the owner of the chicago cubs, joe rickets, when he got slam-dunked in this so-called free media by all of us and really across the spectrum. for just considering an ad that was out of bounds. about obama and the reverend jeremiah wright. so with that signaled to me was that this year, in the presidential race, anyway, and the congressional race, the super pac ads will be really ugly. but in the presidential race, they're not going to wander too far away from what the romney camp wants. we already saw that with karl rove's first ad.

>> so basically, you think they're going to be cleaner than expected? >> yes. cleaner than expected. we've all expected this was going to be a terribly ugly race. it's still going to be a highly negative race. but if you can draw distinction between negative and -- >> ugly. >> unfair personal attacks. the republicans and the romney campaign in particular sees those personal attacks on obama as counterproductive. they don't think they help him. they don't think they help romney. they're going to keep the focus on the economy. very negative, but inbounds, most of the time. >> ann, your colleague writes about the wisconsin recall election coming up a week after the next one in the "washington post." here's what he writes. quote, if democratic challenger tom barrett was to win, it would be a significant blow to the gop. but democrats recognize that the implications for november of a clear win for republican governor scott walker. what are the potential national

impacts for this recall election? >> well really two, as dan writes. one of them of course is just a message. whatever happens in wisconsin with the exciting recall race that's been going on for quite some time now. will send a signal to the rest of the country, perhaps meaningful, perhaps not, about the direction things are going to go in november. more specifically, obviously wisconsin is in the midwest it has been in the past an important battleground state. although it's tended to be democratic in recent presidential elections, it was very republican in the last mid-term. so it could signify that if the republican governor can hang on, that mitt romney might have a chance there. and that would alter the electoral map in ways that obama campaign has not hoped for, anticipated, wanted to deal with. they want the fight to be in other states and they want to keep wisconsin in the secure win column. which it won't be if they can't win this recall. >> jonathan, do you think that the democrats ignored wisconsin too long? i mean now they're pouring money into it. but too little, too late? >> probably.

you know, scott walker is ahead by five or six points in recent polls. this is where the super pacs come into play. because walker is outspending the democrat by 8-1. as a result of all of these super pac ads coming in from the outside. so you know this is a test, not just of their relative strength on the ground, but of how powerful these super pac ads might be in changing public opinion in wisconsin there seems to be more intensity on the republican side than on the democratic side in wisconsin. which is bad sign for obama. not just there, but possibly nationally. >> yeah. all right well jonathan alter and anne kornblut thank you. >> up next, the unforgettable picture and story of a grieving military wife.

the first technology of its kind... mom and dad, i have great news. is now providing answers families need. siemens. answers. pull on those gardening gloves. and let's see how colorful an afternoon can be. with the home depot certified advice to help us expand our palette... ...and prices that keep our budgets firmly rooted... ...we can mix the right soil with the right ideas. ...and bring even more color to any garden.

more saving. more doing. that's the power of the home depot. get memorial day savings with 4 bags of earthgro mulch for just 10 dollars. at home, i challenge that in one easy step with olay. total effects tone corrector. 7 anti-aging therapies for younger looking skin including an even skin tone, instantly. from olay. olaf's pizza palace gets the most rewards of any small business credit card! pizza!!!!! [ garth ] olaf's small business earns 2% cash back on every purchase, every day! put it on my spark card! [ high-pitched ] nice doin' business with you! [ garth ] why settle for less? great businesses deserve the most rewards! awesome!!! [ male announcer ] the spark business card from capital one. choose unlimited rewards with 2% cash back or double miles on every purchase, every day! what's in your wallet?

♪ ♪ there is a big party in the city by the bay this weekend, san francisco's golden gate bridge celebrates its golden anniversary today, it's 75. the bridge, one of the seven wonders of the world, still stands for many people as a symbol of hope and ingenuity and for some, just plain old beauty. other headlines from the west coast to share. in the "los angeles times," a front-page story about how many doctors and hospitals are charging patients less if they pay in cash and don't use their health insurance. the article cites one case where a patient could have saved $1300 in out of pocket expenses by not using insurance. on the cover of the press-enterprise newspaper from inland, southern california an

article about a proposed state law that would ban recyclers from buying scrap metal with cash. legislators hope the measure will put a real dent in metal thefts. the daily times in farmington, new mexico says the state will no longer give loans to film and tv producers to lure them to the state. the state had invest ed in movis and commercials, but only one movie produced a return. a hauntsing image, one that many say capture what is memorial day is all about. this pulitzer prize-winning photo was taken seven years ago by todd hessler of the rocky mountain news it shows a pregnant and grieving widow, lying on an air mattress these to the coffin of her husband, a marine second lieutenant who died in iraq. my next guest wrote a moving piece for "the new york times" about what makes this photo so significant. and she is also the author of the book, i love a man in uniform. columnist lily baranna joins me,

her husband is also in the military. thanks for being here. >> i read what you wrote in "the new york times" and it brought me to tears. you described this photo, one of several that was taken of lieutenant jim kathy's widow and she grieved her husband's loss. i understand that it circulates annually among military wives. when did you first come across the image. how did you feel when you first saw them. >> well i first saw the image in 2006 and i'll never forget the day i was trying to describe it to my friend, veronica who is married to a senior officer at west point. i probably got about three sentences out before we both burst into tears. that says something about the power of this image that it affects people who haven't even seen it. >> yeah, i mean, well i was able to see it merely from this picture. but in the paper, accompanying your article. tell us what we're seeing here and what you think the message is of it. >> well i think part of what

makes this image so incredibly arresting is it's the juxtapositioning of the formality of a military funeral service. with the marine holding vigil by the wife. and the wife with no game face whatsoever, no formality, in her pajamas, in this makeshift blanket nest. looking at this laptop screen. and it's it puts military formality alongside modern technology and alongside completely unvarnished agony and i can honestly say i've never seen anything like it. >> no, this is something i understand the widow wanted to spend one last night next to her husband before he was interred. and that she was playing on that laptop, songs that were memorable of him things that the two of them had shared. you think about that. it's easy to get all choked up about it. what is it about this weekend, when you think about what's happening and all of these wives that look at this picture, it

strikes home to all of them. because there but for the grace of god could go these women. >> that's exactly right. there's something about the naked vulnerability of this poor widow, news that she has just received. she's expecting their first child together. she's completely bereft. sometimes when we see these photos, we see them taken at the interment where they've had a few days to compose themselves. this is brand-new news to her. it's i got to tell you it's a little bit difficult for me to do this interview simply because of the impact of this photo. >> it's extremely powerful. i completely agree with you. you know one thing that you do in your column is you mention about the gap often between military life and civilian life. and one this leaves the civilian side often wondering what can i do about all of this. does this photo provide an answer for people who want to do something? and if so, what is it? >> i think it gives people, it prompts them to ask what can i do. the good news story in all of

this is there's plenty that they can do. joining a volunteer organization that will bridge this civilian military gap is just a web search away. there's a terrific one called code of support. if you want to help the military families, there's blue star families.org, as well as something like wounded warriors.org and all of these organizations would welcome your interest and welcome your help. >> yeah. >> lily may i just ask where your husband is right now. is he a veteran, is he home or is he still out? >> he's a veteran, he retired in 2008 after 20 years of loyal service and i'm delighted to say he's just at home waiting for me this memorial day. >> lily barranna, thanks for sharing your story. >> thanks so much and thanks for your support of our military family. >> you can tweet me your response, my handle i is @alexwitt. new includes in the case of a missing louisiana college

student. police there are say they've been flooded with tips after the release of surveillance pictures in which they show 22-year-old michaela shunic last saturday night after leaving a friend's house, police are asking motorists seen in the photos to come forward with any information that may be useful in the search. of how a shipping giant can befriend a forest may seem like the stuff of fairy tales. but if you take away the faces on the trees... take away the pixie dust. take away the singing animals, and the storybook narrator... [ man ] you're left with more electric trucks. more recycled shipping materials... and a growing number of lower emissions planes... which still makes for a pretty enchanted tale. ♪ la la la [ man ] whoops, forgot one... [ male announcer ] sustainable solutions. fedex. solutions that matter. t dog. [ male announcer ] sustainable solutions. every bite goes above and beyond the call of deliciousness. that's a big 10-4 kosher. with no fillers, by-products, artificial flavors or colors. hebrew national. the better-than-a-hot dog- hot dog.

ovider is different but centurylink is committed to being a different kind of communications company by continuing to help you do more and focus on the things that matter to you. with the touch of a button ? droid does. does it post it instantly to facebook with sound ? droid does. droid with color for facebook. it's the ultimate status update. get a droid razr maxx by motorola for only $199.99. thought they were dead. [ laughter ] [ grunting ] huh? [ male announcer ] should've used roundup.

america's number one weed killer. it kills weeds to the root, so they don't come back. guaranteed. weeds won't play dead, they'll stay dead. roundup. no root. no weed. no problem. whose non-stop day starts with back pain... and a choice. take advil now and maybe up to four in a day. or choose aleve and two pills for a day free of pain. way to go, coach. ♪ it means opportunity it means anybody can attain whatever they want to do this is what red white and blue means to me. what does it mean to you? ♪

♪ from those best sellers to today's list of number ones despite some hopeful signs of a turn-around in the housing market, there's still more than 30% of home owners whose house is worth less than their mortgage. a new stillo.com poll finds that 71% of homes in las vegas have underwater mortgages, phoenix, arizona is second with 56%. atlanta, just a fraction behind in third place. it's the city that dines out the

most. and it is -- dallas. the bundle.com study found folks in big d paid 12% more than average to eat out. new york city is average on the dining list, plano, texas, third. the website 24/7wall street ranks the most dangerous states for driving, by looking at the rate of fatal accidents, the site names mississippi as the most dangerous to drive in. montana is second. alabama third. and a new orbitz survey finds orlando as the third most popular getaway. new york city comes in second there, moving up four places by the way after last year's sixth-place ranking and would you have guessed that las vegas is the most popular destination this summer? where's the surf and sand, though, right? it's kind of hot in the desert. a first "american idol" runner-up, adam lambert, his new album debuts atop the billboard 100. go ahead and play it away and let's listen to adam. [ other merv ] welcome back to the cleaning games.

let's get a recap, merv. [ merv ] thanks, other merv. mr. clean magic eraser extra power was three times faster on permanent marker. elsewhere against dirt, it was a sweep, with scuffed sports equipment... had it coming. grungy phones... oh! super dirty! and grimy car rims... wow! that really works! ...all taking losses. it looks like mr. clean has won everything. the cleaning games are finished? and so are we. okay, but i just took a mortgage out on the cabinet. [ male announcer ] clean more, work less, with the mr. clean magic eraser extra power. but they haven't experienced extra strength bayer advanced aspirin. in fact, in a recent survey, 95% of people who tried it agreed

that it relieved their headache fast. visit fastreliefchallenge.com today for a special trial offer. visit fastreliefchallenge.com do you guys ride? well... no. sometimes, yeah. yes. well, if you know anybody else who also rides, send them here -- we got great coverage. it's not like bikers love their bikes more than life itself. i doubt anyone will even notice.

leading the pack in motorcycle insurance. now, that's progressive. call or click today. aarrggh! easy label, right? but that label can lead to prejudice and discrimination, and we don't want to go there. so let's try to see people for who they really are. you can help create a more united states. the more you know. in here, great food demands a great presentation. so at&t showed corporate caterers how to better collaborate by using a mobile solution, in a whole new way. using real-time photo sharing abilities, they can create and maintain high standards, from kitchen to table. this technology allows us to collaborate with our drivers to make a better experience for our customers.

[ male announcer ] it's a network of possibilities -- helping you do what you do... even better. ♪ at bottom of the hour, welcome back to "weekends with alex witt. "time for strategy talk at the half hour. new today, president obama and mitt romney senior advisers tangling on the morning talk shows with the focus on job creating. >> he's very good at making money for his partners. he's not so good at creating jobs. we've seen that time and time again. and i think the american pem and voters deserve to understand what mitt romney means when he says he has the keys to being an economic savior. >> there is a correlation between making money and growing a company and job creation. that's what president obama does not understand because he's never been in the private sector and doesn't understand how it

works. >> yoing me from philadelphia is mark lamont hill, professor at columbia university and david winston, former strategist on newt gingrich's campaign. i just spoke with your former colleague as he was leaving "meet the press." caught him in a little ambush. but he was great. i want to highlight something with you, david, that something that ed said about mitt romney's initially saying in an interview last week. specifically that president obama does not understand how the economy works. now, talk about that. i mean are there differences? are they ideological? are they practical in their implementation? explain what he means by that. >> what clearly ed was driving at and what republicans clearly believe is after 39 months of 8.1% unemployment or higher, than this president is basically going back to the same plan that in fact got us into this mess and in terms of extending this economic drought that we're in. 1.7% economic growth last year

is not exactly a record to talk about. and that's the president's challenge. he's not been able to articulate any other direction. i mean the direction he's taken clearly hasn't worked. so going back to he doesn't have a plan to create jobs. >> do you think it's fair to attack the president as not being able to comprehend the problem? i mean isn't that just sort of a blatant attack on his intelligence? >> well, i think if you're going to do the same thing over and over again and you're getting this horrible result, what that's implying is that you don't know what to do. and i think that that's what the -- >> but isn't there a difference between not knowing what to do and not understanding the problem? you know actually i think mark lamont hill, my producer he's shaking his head in philadelphia. mark, you can jump in here. >> i think what you see is an ideological difference you can make the same argument about the republican party, slashing taxes for the rich, deregulating companies, they've been convinced that that's the with a i to solve our economic problems. they keep doing the same thing. one could argue that they don't

comprehend the problem. i wouldn't be so condescending, they have a different perspective that is wrong. the president refuses to accept the republican's approach to economic recovery and as a result they're being disingenuous and are doing something that voters won't buy. at the end of the day the voters will see through this. >> going back to ronald reagan in terms of his economic plan, at this point in time, same point in time in his presidency, as barack obama's in his, we had just come off the fourth consecutive quarter of 8% growth or higher. this president has just come off a year of 1.7%. there's a dramatic difference in the outcome of those two policies. it suggests that when we're critiquing this president, we're critiquing it based on success. >> yes, but it's also important to understand that obama is standing on three decades of deregulation. three decades of completely perverted economic policy that he's responding to. so it's not, they're not, you're

comparing apples and oranges here. >> i'm comparing the same -- you go to looking at what happened in the '90s with speaker gingrich in terms of balancing the budget, low unemployment. that worked fine. >> under president clinton. >> it was also, it was also speaker gingrich. the budget got balanced in '98 after the '97 tax cuts. >> it's absolutely fascinating to me that any type of economic recovery or stability is always linked to republicans, even in the house, any type of failure is linked to washington when it's democrats. i give bill clinton his credit in terms of working with speaker gingrich in terms of doing that, absolute credit for that. >> an i would love to give republicans credit for working with obama. but they have been committed to obstruction rather than answers. they have yet to articulate a vision, particularly governor romney has yet to articulate a vision to move us forward. they keep saying what they won't do. >> do you think, david that is because of the fractured nature of the republican party? i mean it was a lot different

under ronald reagan. >> i think what you're seeing here is we finished a primary process. you're seeing governor romney to begin laying out his direction in terms of how he wants to emphasize this solution. he had the 59-point economic plan. way too many points. he has to create focus in terms of convincing people. having said this, this is a country that's very dissatisfied with the direction of where this president has taken this economy. >> this is country that wants to get some solutions and there is an article on politico today that talks about mitt romney and questions ha his vision is. because it's one thing for anybody to get out as a candidate and condemn what the opposing candidate is doing. but you have to at some point say, so here's what i'm going to do. and he has yet to really do that in a profound way. >> i agree. he has got to hay out his solution. it's not just good enough that people are unhappy with the president in terms of what he's doing. what's very important is governor romney lays out those

solutions in such a way that the people believe that's the direction to go. this is not just, this is not a referendum. this is ultimately going to be a choice in terms of which two directions, there's an opportunity for governor romney to lay out that choice. but having said that he's got to do it. >> thomas friedman has this new op-ed in the "new york times," it says that president obama needs to seize the high ground. in fact he calls president obama the worst president i've ever seen, when it comes to explaining his accomplishments. has president obama creded the high ground? >> i agree that the president has been awful for the last four years at articulating just how successful he's been. he's had a very ambitious and successful presidency. when we look at everything from don't ask don't tell to hiv-aids domestically. to loans for college students to health care. we can see not just an

ambitious, but successful policy agenda that the president has given us. the problem is he seems to assume the best. he assumes the high ground too much. in the sense that he doesn't trumpet his own accomplishments. it's almost that if he believes if i just play fair, everything will turn out right. that's a great idea if you're not in politics. in politics, the fact is your opponent doesn't play fair, he plays to win. the president needs to continue to inspire people. he's a great campaigner, i think he's been very effective in many ways governing, but he has to tell us how he's going to do that moving forward. >> mark lamont hill and david winston, thank you so much. for more on all things politics, be sure to check out the firstread blog. another big developing story this hour, subtropical storm beryl threatens to wash out holiday plans for many down in the south. the storm is expected to make landfall later today or tonight.

and right now, beryl is heading west toward northern florida and southeast georgia. the rain may help extinguish a wildfire that's burning in orlando. slowly moving closer to the local tourist attractions. in michigan, an out of control wildfire there is burning through 21,000 acres of forest. officials are ordering evacuations now. they say this fire is not going to be stopping any time soon. a snapshot, meanwhile, of america on the jersey shore this weekend. today is a time of relaxation for some. not us here working in the studio. but it's also certainly a time for remembrance. byron scott from nbc station, wcau in philadelphia has more. >> we are here on the boardwalk in wildwood, new jersey, been here since before the crack of dawn this morning. a lot of people coming out here to have fun and remember the importance of the day. on a grassy knoll just feet away from the boardwalk, american flags set the tone for the

weekend. a time to honor those who gave their lives for our country. >> as we go about our busy lives, rushing from place to place, down to the beach, sitting in traffic, please remember those who fallen so that we may live in peace and prosperity. >> there was a display of coast guard recruits and other reminders of those who are still serving, including -- a coast guard flyover. for some, it was quite emotional. >> for the boys who gave their lives over there. and all the families they left behind that still suffering. my brother was killed in vietnam 46 years ago. it still hurts a lot. >> reporter: in addition to the memorial day remembrance activities, a lot of people are expected to hit the boardwalk and beach in wildwood, as they have for years. >> i've been down here, this weekend since thursday night. just getting some work done around the house, go out, visiting friends, you know, just enjoying the nice weather, it's a beautiful weekend.

>> doing our wildwood thing like we always do. >> reporter: you always come down here? >> yeah. all the time. it's our favorite town. >> reporter: much planned for the weekend here. including tonight at 8:00, a uso variety show and concert, featuresing joe miss cpiscopo. a tale of two singers, attending beyonce's concert in atlantic city last night. first lady michelle obama and daughters sasha and malia. it was beyonce's second concert since giving concert to her baby blue ivy back in january. lady gaga has canceled next saturday's sold-out show in indonesia. the decision follows threats of violence from islamic hardliners who object to her music and her dress. the promoter is promising full refunds. with the spark miles card from capital one,

sven's home security gets the most rewards of any small business credit card! how does this thing work? oh, i like it! [ garth ] sven's small business earns double miles on every purchase, every day! woo-hoo!!! so that's ten security gators, right? put them on my spark card! why settle for less? testing hot tar... great businesses deserve the most rewards! [ male announcer ] the spark business card from capital one. choose unlimited rewards with double miles or 2% cash back on every purchase, every day! what's in your wallet? here's your invoice. time out. sweet. [ female announcer ] with charmin ultra soft, you can get that cushiony feeling while still using less. designed with extra cushions that are soft and more absorbent and you can use four times less. charmin ultra soft.

i've been fortunate to win on golf's biggest stages. but when joint pain and stiffness from psoriatic arthritis hit, even the smallest things became difficult. i finally understood what serious joint pain is like. i talked to my rheumatologist and he prescribed enbrel. enbrel can help relieve pain, stiffness, and stop joint damage. because enbrel, etanercept, suppresses your immune system, it may lower your ability to fight infections. serious, sometimes fatal events including infections, tuberculosis, lymphoma, other cancers, and nervous system and blood disorders have occurred. before starting enbrel, your doctor should test you for tuberculosis and discuss whether you've been to a region where certain fungal infections are common. don't start enbrel if you have an infection like the flu. tell your doctor if you're prone to infections, have cuts or sores, have had hepatitis b, have been treated for heart failure, or if, while on enbrel, you experience persistent fever, bruising, bleeding, or paleness. [ phil ] get back to the things that matter most. ask your rheumatologist if enbrel is right for you. [ doctor ] enbrel, the number one biolog medicine prescribed by rheumatologists.

but not how we get there. because in this business, there are no straight lines. only the twists and turns of an unpredictable industry. so the eighty-thousand employees at delta... must anticipate the unexpected. and never let the rules overrule common sense. this is how we tame the unwieldiness of air travel, until it's not just lines you see... it's the world.

"newsweek" and the "daily beast" came out with a list of the top 1,000 schools. number one on the list, gaton academy of mathematics and science in bowling green, kentucky. all but one top ten school have a 100% graduation rate. and joining me here is the co-author of the article, lauren strib. lauren, thanks for joining me. >> thanks for having me. >> you know what jumped out at me was the south and the large representation of highly-rated schools there in that part of the country. is this a new trend? >> i don't know if it's new, but it's a trend. and 14 of the top 20 schools was in the south. which i think surprised us. i think there's the common misconception that the greatest schools are in the northeast and with high school that's not, that's not so common. i mean i think one of the interesting things about that is

that the south and the southwest have a lot of charter and magnet schools that are really exceptional. and i think that's, central to this and not as much in the northeast. >> i know, arizona a lot of great schools from the western part of the country as well. what is it that tops schools do that others don't? what is it that separates them to greatness? >> well specifically, for this list, we look at the graduation rate, the percentage of kids who go on to college after graduating. and the number of classes they take in high school that are college-level courses, these schools are exceptional for not only preparing their students for college, but then getting them in the door. and i think one of the reasons we look at that is studies have shown that the students who are the most successful in college are most prepared for it. they're not dropping out after the freshman year because they're ready for the rigor of college, that's when we wanted to highlight with the list. >> do you find in terms of public versus private and magnet and charter that you can

categorize one being more successful than the other? >> i think what's great about the list is 77% of the list are totally open enrollment public school. at this school kids are taking the bus to go to. they're still really exceptional education and the teachers are still putting in hours and hours on end to get these kids a great education. charter and magnet schools are great for their own reasons, too, but i think it runs the gamut. >> do you see any surprises either on or off the list? >> no, i think the interesting thing, is that from last year to this year, we even noticed a trend in doing this list, that schools are offering more a.p. classes per kid. they're really challenging students in school. and i think we always hear the rhetoric about how, kids are so overtaxed now in high school and students are so overscheduled. but i think it is true it's getting harder and harder to compete in the high school level because there are so many really exceptional high schools. but because kids are getting smarter and smarter. and also they're being

challenged more and more. >> i think you can say challenged and pressured. whether it comes from in the school with what they offer or parents or the community at large. but anyway, as the mom of a couple of them, i totally am right there with you. lauren stribe, thank you so much. in today's then and now, roller coaster mania on this day. 17 years ago, larry carroll reported on the "nbc nightly news" about america's intensifying love affair with amusement parks. >> it is one of the surest signs that america is in a summer state of mind. crowds are returning to amusement parks to find the tallest -- the wildest -- and the fastest -- roller coasters. the cornerstone of the amusement park business for more than 70 years will hit a new higher plateau in 1995, after a year of falling attendance at revenues, amusement parks from coast to coast are unveiling hundreds of

millions of dollars worth of new hardware. 45 roller coasters are scheduled to debut this season at 41 different parks. >> and this weekend, 400 amusement parks in the u.s. opened their doors for the summer season. more than 135 new rides debuted. including 20 new roller coasters, among the new ones, sky rush at hershey park in pennsylvania. a 200-foot tall coaster, reaching speeds of 75 miles per hour. and there's also apocalypse, in key largo, maryland. a 100-foot tall stand-up coaster. oh, wow. cool, huh? now to number four on our first five stories trending this hour. don't be surprise odd if you see people flocking to car show rooms across the country and coming away with a new set of wheels. auto liquid ator.com said car sales surge over the memorial day weekend. last year the holiday weekend sales accounted for 15% of the total sales for may.

[ female announcer ] want to spend less and retire with more? then don't get nickle and dimed by high cost investments and annoying account fees. at e-trade, our free easy-to-use online tools and experienced retirement specialists can help you build a personalized plan. and with our no annual fee iras and a wide range of low cost investments, you can execute the plan you want at a low cost. so meet with us, or go to etrade.com for a great retirement plan with low cost investments. ♪ but i tested it out, and bayer advanced aspirin relieved my pain fast. it helps me get back in the game. but don't take his word for it. put bayer advanced aspirin to the test for yourself at fastreliefchallenge.com. then lead a double life! with new blast flipstick from covergirl.

creamy color on one end, shimmery color on the other. so you can flip your look from demure, to daring. new blast flipstick from covergirl.

♪ [ lauer ] this is our team. and unlike other countries, it's built by your donations, not government funding. and now, to support our athletes, you can donate a stitch in america's flag for the 2012 olympic games in london.

help raise our flag, add your stitch at teamusa.org. class action lawyers this weekend are busy gathering plaintiffs for suits against facebook an its ipo underwriter, morguoring, as the fallout for the troubled stock mounts. the key issue? reports that morgan stanley warned select clients that facebook was lowering its earnings projections ahead of the ipo, but failed to publicly disclose it. adding to the anger? the stock is now down over 16% since its launch. joining me is the lead attorney for the new york suit, sam ruddman, partner at robbins,

geller, ruddman and doud. thank you for being here. >> thank you for having me. well, i first want to ask do you have proof that the information given to select investors was material to the ipo? >> well i think the easiest way to tell it was material is to see what they did with the information when they got it they only told certain select investors. so that they could act on it. nothing makes it more material than that. and alex, i don't think there's a single person who invested in the facebook ipo who wouldn't have wanted to know prior to the start of the ipo, that the three lead underwriters had taken down the revenue growth projections. it's clearly material information. and the way you know is they told the people they care about the most, the best clients. >> so, but the question is why is facebook named in the suit? i mean isn't it the underwriters' job to make the

disclosure? >> well, alex, that's an excellent question. they're both named in the lawsuit and here's why -- in connection with an ipo, there's a document called a registration statement and a prospectus. the law is very strict about what needs to go in that document. and facebook is responsible for what's in that document. the lawsuit focuses on disclosure in that document. concerning revenue growth or revenue trends at the company and we state that that was misleading. under the facebook, that's why they're also a defendant in this lawsuit, facebook. >> so in total, sam, i want to look at all the defendants, you have facebook inc., you have early facebook investors, morgan stanley, jpmorgan. goldman sachs, merrill lynch and ba barclays, capital. are they all equally at fault? >> alex, that's something that the court is going to have to

decide. under the statutes that we're operating under, they're all response ill and we think we've probably stated a claim against them and that's why they are defendants in the lawsuit. now how much any one particular defendant is to blame will be something that will get sorted out in litigation. >> so, how much of a factor, sam, do you think facebook's poor performance has played into the plaintiffs joining this suit? meaning are people just mad that it's not performing as well as they thought it would. and should it start zooming up next week, might investors feel differently? >> well, sure. if the stock goes up, investors are always going to feel differently. if it goes to 100 tomorrow, i'm not sure what's going to happen with the lawsuit. but we deal with the facts as we know them today. and when he we look at the facts today, what you see is an ipo that was tremendous amount of hype, that was looked at as an opportunity to get retail investors back to this market. you then see, you then see in

the middle of the ipo road show, material information allegedly being concealed from the market. you then see an increase in the offer price and an increase in the supply of the shares and then you see a mess on trading the first few days. any way you cut it. >> i didn't mean to interrupt you. in terms of seeking damages, how much are you looking for? >> well right now the statutory damages are somewhere north of $2.5 billion. the defendants will have an opportunity in the lawsuit to claim some of those damages are unrelated to anything we claim was a misrepresented or omitted in the registration statement. >> all right. sam ruddman, thank you so much for taking time on this busy weekend as you get ready for things. i want to let you know that morgan stanley and facebook, we did reach out to facebook, they declined our request for an interview and morgan stanley did not respond at all. there is morgan stanley's statement. let's quickly put up facebook's

statement. these are statements that were given earlier this week. by media requests for response at that point. so there you see facebook. there we have. let's look now at a couple stories that caught my eye. we begin here with this she has some second thoughts, but she did it. 80 years old and sky-diving god love her. as you can see on this video that's gone viral, this 2011 jump could have easily ended in tragedy. laverne everett almost fell out of her harness. things going a little easier for this dog. who is a stray no more, little saw found his pack with a group of cyclists after they were kind enough to feed them. since then, he's been running with the psych illists for about 20 days now. the best of office politics is coming up, including rachel maddow, with candidates putting their families on the political stage, you're watching weekends with alex witt.

clear, huh? my nutritional standards are high. i'm not juice or fancy water, i'm different. i've got nine grams of protein. twist my lid. that's three times more than me! twenty-one vitamins and minerals and zero fat! hmmm. you'll bring a lot to the party. [ all ] yay! [ female announcer ] new ensure clear. nine grams protein. zero fat. twenty-one vitamins and minerals. in blueberry/pomegranate and peach. refreshing nutrition in charge! ♪ oh oh oh oh you see it in the brush... ♪ oh oh oh oh ooh oh ...and then there's the pillow. ♪ i dare you to dare me so they dared me to try this pantene. [ female announcer ] pantene anti-breakage the keratin protection system makes hair stronger reducing breakage up to 97%. ♪ think only salon brands can do that? i dare to compare... will you? [ female announcer ] anti-breakage from pantene. hair so healthy it shines.

good day to all of you, welcome to "weekends with alex witt" we're live from the nation's capital, it's just past 1:00 p.m. in the east, 10:00 a.m. in the west. front page politics, and new today, the senior advisers for both president obama and mitt romney squaring off on the sunday talk show circuit. at issue, president obama's recent attacks on mitt romney's record at bain capital. >> this is nothing to do with being anti-business. this is a criticism, and a good criticism of mitt romney's only thesis for being president. united states. that he's some kind of economic savior. he's very good at making money for his partners. he's not so good at creating jobs. >> the fact is that 80% of companies he invested in grew. if you look at sports authority, 15,000 jobs. if you look at brighter horizons, 19,000 jobs. if you look at staples, nearly 90,000 jobs created.

the president's hostile rhetoric to private investment and job creators is highlighting the fact that his policies are hostile to private investment and job creators. >> the gop in texas is set for tuesday, mitt romney is expected to officially become the gop nominee. on tuesday, mitt romney meets up with donald trump and newt gingrich for a fundraiser at trump towers in los angeles. before that, mr. romney will spend tomorrow observing memorial day with senator john mccain, the two will attend an event at the veterans museum and memorial center in san diego. and president obama will mark memorial day with veterans and their families at arlington national cemetery and later visit the vietnam's veterans memorial. joining me for more front page politics, political reporter for the "washington post," nia ma leaka henderson.malika henderso. >> to link up with romney and mccain and trump and gingrich on tuesday, which should be quite a show.

>> we'll have to talk to you after the fact about that you heard president obama's senior adviser saying that the bain criticism is a good one. do you think this has played itself out. or are we getting a foreshadowing of a repeating theme throughout the campaign? >> definitely a foreshadowing. i think that we're doing is floating a trial balloon. i don't expect that in the fall it's going to be as harsh as it is now. a lot of the commercials you see are web videos, they aren't national buys, national ad buys just yet. i don't think in the fall you'll have a campaign ad where someone says mitt romney makes me sick or describes mitt romney as a vampire. i think that would eat into the barack obama brand. he can't have an ad out there saying mitt romney is a vampire. and then say i'm barack obama, i approved this message. >> you wrote an article about mitt romney's push for the african-american vote. it talks about his visit with african-american leaders at a school in philadelphia. from what you got in terms of

the sense of the visit, what is the mission here? first of all, was mitt romney comfortable there? >> he isn't the most comfortable guy in these sorts of settings just in general. the kind of every day, chit-chatting with folks, that's just not his strong suit at this point. and he's certainly got kind of a bad reception from philadelphia leaders. and of course, this was going to be the case, a lot of them are democrats, they didn't want to give him a warm welcome and they didn't. the students there he meant and talked with them and shook some hands, the point is if you look where he was, it was in western philadelphia. those philadelphia suburbs. a lot of independents there, a lot of white people, a lot of white women. a lot of white upper class, college educated folks and in some ways he's making an indirect appeal to those folks, saying i'm not rick santorum. i'm tolerant. i'm surrounding myself with you know sort of an inclusive set of americans. and in that way, he can come across as more of a compassionate conservative. >> he's appealing to the outer

borough. >> and by extension, the outer borough in virginia, it's an indirect appeal to independent whites essentially. >> so not so much the inner cities, but then the surrounding community. >> what about this is what you wrote in your piece here. the quote, despite the obvious difficulties, romney's outreach to black voters could reap dividends even if he is unable to significantly chip into obama's support. are those the dividends you're talking about? >> right, that's it. he does, john mccain got 4% of the black vote did you look at a state like virginia, 97% of african-americans approve of the president's job. highlighting the 13% unemployment among african-americans, one of the things they could do is possibly discourage black people, african-americans, people who feel some sort of emotional connection to obama. he could, you know, by tearing down that record it could be in effect where they stay home, they're not as enthusiastic in the way that they were four years ago. >> is it too cynical to suggest that mitt romney went to this

particular philadelphia school, just for the political benefits, what he could derive from it? >> aren't all of these visits ultimately, you know, about politics, you know, i mean this is what the republican party has been grappling with. how can they expand the big ten of their party. they know demographically they know things are going in the direction where more hispanic babies being born. this is a continuation of george bush's efforts in 2004. he needed to do the same thing. he did swell african-american turnout in ohio, that was a difference in that election. >> nia malika henderson, are you taking off today? >> yes, i am. >> got your jeans off, she's off and running. >> yes, i do. another developing story this hour. subtropical storm beryl is threatening memorial day plans across the southeast. the storm will likely make landfall later today or tonight. it's heading towards southern georgia and northern florida. that's where we find weather channel meteorologist mike seidel who is live on a windy,

jacksonville beach. good night it's so windy there. you have those glasses on. what's, the sand blowing in your face? >> that's why i've got the goingles on. i don't mess around after irene and back in 2003, the sand is coming right down the beech. we're getting wind gusts 35, the buoys reporting gusts to nearly 50 miles an hour. we've had one shower here. the rainfall hasn't been the story so far. it's been the wind and the sand. now they're shutting down the beaches within the hour. the good thing is very few folks have ventured out farther. dangerous rip currents from here and down to daytona and the cape. up to south carolina. so even up there where it's a nice day, and they're not going to have much of the impacts, as far as the stronger winds and rain. the rip currents will be up today and tomorrow. let's look at the satellite. beryl is a subtropical storm. it doesn't have full tropical

characteristics. the strongest winds are not near the center and the convection or the thunderstorms removed from the center, it's been filling in through the morning hours. yesterday it took a lot of dry area. but it's moving west at 10 miles per hour. do the mathematics, about 110 miles due east of here. we're expecting the center to come on shore here or a little farther north. around midnight tonight. but before that, certainly dinner time and thereafter, very strong wind gusts over 40, 50 miles per hour with the rain squalls, wrapping into a very drought-stricken area. in fact the worst drought in the country is across northern florida, georgia has the worst drought of any state. so we'll take the rain. there may be some localized flooding there may be some sporadic power outages but we don't expect beryl to strengthen any more between now and then as it leaves the gulfstream, the warmer waters in the 80s and sheds over the shelf waters between there and the coast, with water temperatures in the 70s. we've got a good storm coming at us. but the positive spin here, alex is the rain will hopefully get everybody and lower the fire

danger. we've had fires recently. the one that shut down i-4 in orlando a few days ago. we'll be bringing you the pictures, it's going to go downhill. >> yeah, well ever the optimist, mike seidel. i love what you see as the rain being a good thing. we thank you with a hearty thanks. new video out of syria showing protesters filling the streets after the massacre of at least 90 people, perhaps the bloodiest in its 15-month uprising, at least 32 were children under the age of 10. u.n. observers say that artillery was used in attacks, but wouldn't say how the victims died. syria's government blames opposition activists for the violence. joining me is former u.s. ambassador, mark ginsberg, good to see you. >> hi alex, it's a switch, i'm here, you're there. >> how about this, is this the

tipping point, mark, for the u.s. to take action? and if it is not, keeping in mind 32 children in this kind of a massacre nearing 100 people, if this isn't the tipping point, what is? >> alex, that's the question and no one seems to be able to answer. syria keeps going in and out of the newspapers over the last few months. the fact of the matter is is that the riots, the violence has gotten worse. and remember, the most important thing to understand, is that the syrian government is previcating liar. it will lie about the violence that's inflicted. it's been condemned for the massacre that's taken place in hula. the bottom line is that the united states is not going to put boots on the ground. the united states is hoping a hail mary pass, is that somehow the russians, will work out an arrangement that they'll figure out a way of somehow easing president bashar al assad out of power. i wouldn't bet on it. >> this is like what happened in

yemen. why do you not bet on it? >> because most importantly, it was one thing to get rid of a yemeni dictator that the russians didn't really care about. but assad is a client of the russian government. he's a very important player to the russians. i don't see at this point in time, as much as the russians may dislike the use of the violence that the syrians are engaged in, i'm not necessarily convinced that the russians and the united states are going to see eye to eye here. >> okay. mark, as you know, the united nations observers, went there to hula to confirm all of these killings, that cease-fire was declared in the beginning of april. so obviously the violence has not subsided. what do you think needs to happen right now? >> first of all, as a result of this violence, the european union in the united states supporting it should haul the bashar al assad regime before the international court of criminal justice and indict them for this massacre. that would begin delegitimizing this regime. the united states should withdraw the recognition of this government. it should continue to provide

covert support for the syrian opposition. and perhaps get the turks to provide humanitarian relief in the humanitarian corridor. i'm not in favor of boots on the ground because the situation is already spilling over to lebanon. where there's been violence as a result of this. the most important thing, however, is for the united states to remain engaged. i don't like the fact that the obama administration seems to be subcontracting its syria policy out to everyone else, because it doesn't have the strategy to deal with the situation. >> hey, mark, actually while you were talking i will say that britain's call to have an emergency u.n. security council meeting happened, it has been heeded, it's going to happen in an hour and 15 minutes from right now. what will the meeting accomplish? >> nothing. there's only 230 monitor, u.n. monitors on the ground. they'll issue the standard press release condemning the syrians for engaging in the latest massacre of young men, women and children. but the fact of the matter is, is that they're very few options available.

if the arab league and if the turks, particularly the turks are, not prepared to turn the screws. and finally, finally, to have the russians stop sending arms to the syrian regime. it's those russian arms that are providing the lifeblood for the regime right now to continue these massacres. >> okay. former u.s. ambassador, mark ginsberg, good to see you. straight ahead, he had the job of hunting down osama bin laden and now he's telling his story for the first time. coming up dimension. dude you don't understand, this is my dad's car. look at the car! my dad's gonna kill me dude...

[ male announcer ] the security of a 2012 iihs top safety pick. the volkswagen passat. that's the power of german engineering. right now lease the 2012 passat for $209 a month. in here, great food demands a great presentation. so at&t showed corporate caterers how to better collaborate by using a mobile solution, in a whole new way. using real-time photo sharing abilities, they can create and maintain high standards, from kitchen to table. this technology allows us to collaborate with our drivers to make a better experience for our customers. [ male announcer ] it's a network of possibilities -- helping you do what you do... even better. ♪

[ female announcer ] letting her home be turned into a training facility? ♪ this olympian's mom has been doing it for years. she's got bounty. in this lab demo, one sheet of new bounty leaves this surface cleaner than two sheets of the leading ordinary brand. bounty has trap and lock technology to soak up big spills and lock them in. let the spills begin. p&g. proud sponsor of the olympic games.

well in ohio, 2500 american flags are flying in honor of our troops this memorial day weekend. the field of heroes allows visitors to pay respect to our country's service members. organizers expect 10,000 visitors this weekend. a new and fascinating tale about the chase and capture of osama bin laden sun folding in the pages of a book just out. the author, ambassador henry crumpton and until recently if you knew that name it meant you were in a league of extraordinary and notorious people that included u.s. presidents, generals, special forces and foreign rebel fighters from africa to south asia. crumpton spent 24 years in the c.i.a.'s clandestine service,

following the attacks on 9/11 he was charged with hunting down al qaeda and osama bin laden. crumpton is retired and his new book chronicles his time on america's secret battlefields, i spoke with him recently. you saw osama bin laden in afghanistan back in 1999. you had him in your sights. what happened there? >> well, we had multiple reports of the location of bin laden going back years before that, even. what was different in this case was our human source networks directed us to a specific location, we flew an unarmed uav predator over the compound and sure enough, bin laden was there. >> what did you do with the information? >> we immediate ily relayed it the white house, the department of defense, so they could take action. we were hoping for a lethal response. however the response at the time was cruise missiles would take many hours to get there. they asked fuss we could

determine where bin laden might be five, six hours from then. and we were not able to do that. >> do you think the 9/11 attacks still would have happened, had you been given permission to take out bin laden that day? >> i think that the chances for a 9/11 attack would have been diminished significantly if we had killed bin laden. then or before. >> fast forward to may 2011. bin laden is captured, and killed in abbottabad. was there truth that the pakistani authorities did not know he was there. >> i find it highly unlikely. especially some of the military elements of the pakistani government did not know and probably abetted him zlxt were you surprised when you heard the news about bin laden's death? >> i was not surprised, i was confident that we would get him at some point. i was surprised, however, that he was in abbottabad. which is a town with a major

pakistani military garrison. >> you find it hard to believe that the pakistani authorities did not know he was there. because the proximity. >> yes, correct. >> you work in the natural resources division. you were working on american soil. so how great of a terror threat is there from individuals inside the u.s.? >> well i think it's a threat for sure. if you look at new york city alone, there have been about 10 attempted attacks in the last decade. that averages out to almost one a year. and i believe, i believe we should be concerned. >> who are these people that are doing these attacks? who are these americans that are affiliated or affiliate themselves with al qaeda? >> well some of them have been recruited through the internet. some of them are connected through family and friends. and they have migrated to the battle zone. not only south asia.

but in yemen and somalia. well i also asked ambassador crumpton to get his take on the current state of the war in afghanistan. and his answer? we have a long way to go. still ahead, the best of office politics, rachel maddow and i talk tequila. you're watching "weekends with alex witt" on a holiday weekend. makeup artists have everything to make my skin look its best. at home, i challenge that in one easy step with olay. total effects tone corrector. 7 anti-aging therapies for younger looking skin including an even skin tone, instantly.

from olay. diarrhea, gas or bloating? get ahead of it! one phillips' colon health probiotic cap a day helps defend against digestive issues with three strains of good bacteria. hit me! [ female announcer ] live the regular life. phillips'.

♪ power surge, let it blow your mind. [ male announcer ] for fruits, veggies and natural green tea energy... new v8 v-fusion plus energy. could've had a v8. but last year my daughter was checking up on me. i wasn't eating well. she's a dietitian and she suggested i try boost complete nutritional drink to help get the nutrition i was missing.

now i drink it every day, and i love the great taste. [ female announcer ] boost has 26 essential vitamins and minerals, including calcium and vitamin d to help keep bones strong and 10 grams of protein to help maintain muscle. all with a delicious taste. your favorite patient is here! [ dad ] i choose great taste. i choose boost. time for today's ups and downs, more americans are riding a bicycle to get around. the number of bicycle commuters went up 40% between 2000 and 2010. a new study says the total savings for american who is give up driving for riding amounts to at least $4.6 billion a year. that deserve as wow. spending on luxury goods is slowing. a new mastercard study shows jewelry has really lost its luster. sales last month fell more than 3.5%. a mastercard analyst says europe's economic woes and a stronger dollar are two reasons for the falloff.

folks in palm springs, california, are abuzz about their new resident. it's a 26-foot high statue of marilyn monroe, it was unveiled last week amid fanfare. for the last ten months, it was in chicago. she's going to stay in palm springs for a year. after that, nobody knows wher norma jean will wind up. > >> nearly 22 million saw "idol" name this year's winner. about a third less than last year's turnout. > >> thanks to "the avenger" americans have shilled out more than $4 billion to see a movie this year. an increase of 15% over last year. and those are your ups and downs here on "weekends with alex witt." coming up. a big storm that could ruin the

fem wr memorial day weekend for some folks in the country. [ male announcer ] we put a week's worth of bad odors in a home. some aerosols may just mix with them. can febreze remove it. [ moderator ] describe the smell. it's very pleasant. some kind of flower maybe? awww, oh yuck! [ male announcer ] febreze air effects doesn't mix, it actually removes odors. so you can breathe happy.

mary? what are you doing here? it's megan. i'm getting new insurance. marjorie, you've had a policy with us for three years. it's been five years. five years. well, progressive gives megan discounts that you guys didn't. paperless, safe driver, and i get great service. meredith, what's shakin', bacon? they'll figure it out. getting you the discounts you deserve. now, that's progressive. call or click today. let's see what you got. rv -- covered. why would you pay for a hotel? i never do. motorcycles -- check. atv. i ride those. do you? no. boat. house. hello, dear. hello. hello.

oh! check it -- [ loud r&b on car radio ] i'm going on break! the more you bundle, the more you save. now, that's progressive. thought they were dead. [ laughter ] [ grunting ] huh? [ male announcer ] should've used roundup. america's number one weed killer. it kills weeds to the root, so they don't come back.

guaranteed. weeds won't play dead, they'll stay dead. roundup. no root. no weed. no problem. a a beautiful shot of the capit capitol, i can attest what a gorgeous day it is outside. i want to thank everyone here at the d.c. bureau for welcoming me, you guys are a bunch of rock stars. let's get to a big developing story this hour. subtropical storm beryl threatens to wash out holiday plans for many across the south. it's expected to make landfall later today or tonight. it's heading west towards northern florida and southeast georgia. meanwhile right now in indianapolis, we've got record-breaking heat as the historic indy 500 gets under way. experts are predicting today's high of 94 degrees will break a record that was set, get this, 75 years ago.

for the rest of the nation's forecast, let's go to eric fisher. >> hello, a lot of weather going on for a holiday weekend. not what you want to see what a lot of people have plans. heat is one of the biggest stories we'll be tracking for you today off into monday and tuesday for a lot of folks. take a look at the midwest heat. this is where the big dome of warmest temperatures is, from the southern great lakes down through the ohio valley. that includes indianapolis, big event today, they're going to be keeping a close eye on the happenings at the indianapolis motor speedway. we have excessive heat warnings in effect. heat index warnings, 95 degrees do 100 degrees. that's dangerous for the drivers and folks in the stands alike. urging everyone, drink a lot of water. record highs falling today. forecasts and new orleans, shreveport will be in the area, memphis, forecasting mid 90s. upper 90s in st. louis, they're off to the warmest start to the year. places like chicago, madison, grand rapids and des moines, all

forecasting near or setting record high temperatures. not just the heat, but the severe weather expecting storms especially here across kansas, eastern nebraska, out toward iowa and into southwestern minnesota. that's where we could be seeing some large hail, gusty winds and the chance for tornadoes today. if you have outdoor plans, make sure you have a way to get warnings and the tropics making headlines on a very busy memorial day weekend. alex? back to you. >> okay, eric fisher, many thanks for that. we have a big week ahead for the economy. on the calendar for tuesday is the case-shiller home price index. and thursday, the revised first quarter gdp. leading up to friday, for the may jobs report. joining me with the early read is "new york times" economics reporter, katherine rampell. are you out west in san jose? >> i am, i'm visiting family, going to see my atwo adorable nephews in california. >> thank you for taking some time out of what would have been a holiday weekend.

what are you hearing for the home price index and consumer confidence on tuesday? >> consumer confidence i'm hearing is supposed to be up a hair, i would say on softening gas prices. the home prices, that's expected to again be down year over year. but down less than it had been. it's one of these things, been down so long, starts to look like up. people are getting a little bit more excited, i guess. but still not good news. >> with consumer confidence being up. how does it affect the economy? >> well, the hope is that if consumers have a better outlook on what's going on, they'll start to spend more money. if they spend more money, businesses get higher demand and they think about hiring more workers. of course, that's the hope it doesn't always work out that way. but that's the hope. >> what about the gdp on thursday? it was initially reported up at 2.2%. so do we expect much of a revision on that? >> well, to put this in context, 2.2% is actually relatively low.

that is below the long-term average for annualized growth rates, what we want right now is much higher than average. considering we fell so far during the recession and unfortunately the outlike right now is that the number is going to get revised downward to less than 2%. the good spin on that, i suppose is that the reason why it's expected to get revised downward is that companies have apparently been stockpiling less in their back rooms and their inventories. and the hope is that maybe they were a little bit cautious last quarter in filling up the back room. and so this quarter they'll need to be ordering more and ramping up supplies. >> that's one way to look at it let's hope that is the reason for it all. what about on friday? we have the number that everyone waits for, the unemployment number. what are you hearing on that? >> well, i mean we've gotten some disappointing numbers the last few months. you know, basically just enough

of a job growth each month to keep up with the number of people who are reaching working age, so that you know it should be just about absorbing the number of people entering the labor force and keeping unemployment flat. that's about what i'm hearing this time around, too. i've been hearing, also, from a number of economists and analysts that they are keeping their fingers crossed that actually there will be upward revisions to the last few months. meaning that maybe things haven't exactly been so bad. that the numbers came in artificially low. and you know, it's sort of a sad thing to be resting your hopes on when you're interpreting the economic numbers, maybe they're just wrong. maybe we can hope that they're just wrong and i think that that's the case right now. people are hoping that the number will at least come in, you know, about mediocre. that's the best we can hope for and that the previous months will be revised up. >> okay. well, thank you for telling us how you see it. nonetheless, i appreciate that and enjoy your nephews while you're out there.

nanks, katherine. let's go to the best of office politics, from author, filmmaker and war correspondent, sebastian junger to our very own, rachel maddow. we go inside their offices for a side of them you haven't seen before. so, take a look, here it is. >> favorite for re-election, no matter what the state of the economy, i will say that until election day, because he's a well-funded, talented, likable incumbent. >> ha do you think are obama's strengths? >> well i do think he's a good campaigner. i think he was a lot stronger in 2008 when he wasn't as well known. when he represented kind of real outside force. you know, i don't know that he's the most natural campaigner that i've seen. >> i don't particularly care about individual candidates, i don't particularly care about individual parties other than using them to explain what's going on in the world. >> does mitt romney have a chance of winning in your mind realistically? >> i think he has a chance, no

matter what. no matter what the state of the economy. because the president has been in office a long timing and even if the economy is getting better, i think it's going to raise questions about are these the right policies going forward. >> i don't think romney is a natural campaigner, i think he's stiff and wooden. think he can be a little nerdy. that's just him. he's somebody who is very bright and very accomplished. and who doesn't have the natural political gifts. >> the first time i was deeply, deeply frightened was at a rebel checkpoint in sierra leone during the civil war. the rebels were all really high on drugs. and very, very angry and they all cocked their guns and looked like they were prepared to shoot. >> i was in mogadishu two weeks before blackhawk down and had to hitchhike outen a old soviet, ussr cargo plane to get to nairobi on my own. i was there with abc news and

things were going to hell in a hand basket. >> for eight and a half years of the afghanistan war, we're simultaneously fighting another war in iraq. even with all of that we've had less than 1% of the population doing the fighting. >> i spent 15 minutes thinking we were just going to be executed. and we weren't obviously. but that really left a mark. >> how much did you love this last election? as referenced by not one, not two, but three books that you ultimately write? it's interesting, looking at the cover of this book, i mean fred thompson, where is he now? >> he's doing infomercials. >> for rudy giuliani. america's mayor, he shows up on cable tv. >> and then there's john edwards. >> he's under trial. >> not having a good time at all. >> you've been compared to earnest hemingway. many people say you are this

generation's earnest hemingway. >> is this your new mascot? >> yeah. this is the guy who was on the front of the book. he is the guy. it's actual lay photo of him. they just changed the base to make the united states. >> very clever. >> i moved to little rock, arkansas in 1983 where there was this, unknown little governor. whose wife happened to practice family law. so that adopted daughter of mine, 26 years ago, the adoption was done by our president's secretary of state. >> you're driving car pool in the morning. making lunches in the morning. >> or, you know, arranging play dates. or -- you know, arranging baby sitters when that's necessary. or you know, i'm very insistent about taking them to the dentist. >> oftentimes when i see you in the morning, wee hours, we both

are at msnbc so early. i'm all this energy because that's the way i am and -- >> i know there's some people in the makeup room, not necessarily you, but some people in the makeup room who like their quiet. >> i grew up in l.a. and l.a. is just huge and i get frightened when i go out and drive in l.a. now. >> come on. >> i swear to you. >> you learned to drive on those streets. >> i did. >> you're speaking to an l.a. girl and i drive very fast. >> see, you're part of the problem. >> favorite spirit, what is it? >> rye whiskey. >> get out. >> i'm a rye whiskey drinker. >> i had whiskey down south last weekend. i couldn't. >> are you not a whiskey drinker. >> no, i'm a tequila girl. >> i knew i loved you for a reason. >> you're doing this interview barefoot. can we just -- >> you've got blue toe nails. >> what a great group of people. next week's office politics i go one-on-one with "today" co-host,

matt lauer. i'll talk with him about his views on presidential politics and ahead of matt leaving for the london games, i think i'm going to ask him what olympic sport he wishes he could compete in. i wonder what that's going to be. we'll see what he says. big three, newt gingrich is suddenly supporting mitt romney. is it believable?

i love how clean my mouth is now. but why doesn't it last? well, plaque quickly starts to grow back. [ dr. rahmany ] introducing crest pro-health clinical rinse. it actually keeps your teeth 91% clean of plaque even at 2 months after a dental visit. new crest pro-health clinical rinse. who have used androgel 1%, there's big news. presenting androgel 1.62%. both are used to treat men with low testosterone. androgel 1.62% is from the makers of the number one prescribed testosterone replacement therapy. it raises your testosterone levels, and... is concentrated, so you could use less gel. and with androgel 1.62%, you can save on your monthly prescription. [ male announcer ] dosing and application sites between these products differ. women and children should avoid contact with application sites. discontinue androgel and call your doctor if you see unexpected signs of early puberty in a child, or, signs in a woman which may include changes in body hair

or a large increase in acne, possibly due to accidental exposure. men with breast cancer or who have or might have prostate cancer, and women who are, or may become pregnant or are breast feeding should not use androgel. serious side effects include worsening of an enlarged prostate, possible increased risk of prostate cancer, lower sperm count, swelling of ankles, feet, or body, enlarged or painful breasts, problems breathing during sleep, and blood clots in the legs. tell your doctor about your medical conditions and medications, especially insulin, corticosteroids, or medicines to decrease blood clotting. talk to your doctor today about androgel 1.62% so you can use less gel. log on now to androgeloffer.com and you could pay as little as ten dollars a month for androgel 1.62%. what are you waiting for? this is big news.

what are you waiting for? avoid bad.fats. don't go over 2000... 1200 calories a day. carbs are bad. carbs are good. the story keeps changing. so i'm not listening... to anyone but myself. i know better nutrition when i see it: great grains. great grains cereal starts whole and stays whole. see the seam? more processed flakes look nothing like natural grains. you can't argue with nutrition you can see. great grains. search great grains and see for yourself. for multi grain flakes that are an excellent source of fiber try great grains banana nut crunch and cranberry almond crunch. it is time now for the big three. today's topics are, wisconsin's november impact. mitt romney's new outreach and newt gingrich, say what? we'll bring in my panel to talk about it deputy national political editor for the "washington post," anne kornblut. radio talk show host, armstrong williams and democratic strategist and former senior

adviser to hillary clinton's presidential campaign. doug hattaway, president of hattaway communications. welcome to all three of you on a holiday weekend. anne, let's listen to part of what newt gingrich had to say on "meet the press" today. regarding no shortage of praise for mitt romney. >> the unemployment rate under romney came down the the fact is that he was able to balance the budget every year. and the fact is, he does know a great deal more about job creation than barack obama. did you get why weigh were introducing this with a say what. it seems to be a complete reversal. >> feel the love. you didn't feel it before, you do now. look, he, newt gingrich know what is what it takes to be relevant in the republican party what it takes now is to get on board. romney is going to be the nominee. newt gingrich had a long time to be contrarian and to point out what he didn't like about romney. now if he wants to be part of

the next six months. he had to be on message. to point out the stuff he cares about, we could say it's part of his ego. you knows that he agrees more with mitt romney especially on the issues he just talked about than he does with barack obama. >> are you feeling it as you go out and campaign for mitt romney. he said look it's a lot better alternative from my perspective than it would be to have president barack obama re-elected. let's talk about the reversal with you, armstrong. >> give me a scale of one to ten. >> four. >> it's no different than what candidate clinton did when she ran against barack obama. >> when you're running in campaign and fighting you enhance the facts that owork to your advantage to. you find the facts that enhance the candidate to be the veteran nominee. like he said, he wants to be the player. he wants to influence the

polecies. the only way to do that. get on board and mitt romney needs him. >> now, here's something, though, doug, a lot of folks look at a newt gingrich and they say, this guy can really articulate his message very well. might he have done that, were he to have been the nominee? would he have done that better than mitt romney is doing? i think he's a better messenger. i think romney's problem is not being able to articulate the message, is the credibility of his message. all the flip-flopping has made it hard for him to stick to a message that people actually believe. people before profit sort of philosophy on job creation. i think undermines his message about being the kind of president who is going to create jobs for people. i think that's the big ebb thing. he's viewed as certainly more articulate and good on the stump. frankly, i think democrats would love to see newt gingrich out stumping for mitt romney. because he turns off a lot of people. too. i assume his benefit is more with turning out base voters and getting some of those conservatives who aren't excited about romney to come out. >> the democrats apparently love haas going on in las vegas on

tuesday when you have newt gri, mitt romney and donald trump. as we move onto the upcoming recall election in wisconsin, what do you think are some of the potential impacts from a national perspective. what should we be watching for? >> it's interesting. because you have a precursor to the fall election. you're looking for clues, it's way too far out to have any stock in state polls or national polls. i think this will tell us what the mood is in that state. maybe a little bit in the midwest. a lot of inferences are going to be drawn. both parties going to tell you, whoever wins is going to tell you, it's a harbinger of what happens in november. either way, think we're going to get a sense of how strong the republicans could be in a state that had been trending toward the democrats in recent presidential elections. >> to that end, doug, how concerned are the democrats about that right now. they didn't start pouring a lot of money into this thing until

recently. did they miss the boat here? >> i think the thing to realize about something like this is you don't have to win the vote to benefit from this battle. if you look at what's going on. labor is organized and energized, a lot of those democratic base groups are motivated around this. and wisconsin has drifted back into the swing state column. really for democrats. democrats need all the help they can get, they hang on to wisconsin, i'd rather be going into that with a motivated, mobilized base than the alternative. i think that's an upside to this campaign, whether they win the vote or not. >> there's no up side for the democrats in wisconsin. okay? >> for scott walker to lose it would say to the country that america is prepared for socialism. america is prepared to become europe and the same things you're seeing in europe, america is the 800-pound gorilla. the fact is that democrats have banked so much on scott walker. scott walker went after the

unions, he is going to grow and he will win. >> i say it emphatically. he will win. i want to see how you guys spin it you're right. the democratic party, the national committee abandoned you with the money that did not put the money and all of a sudden they said whoops, we've got to do damage control. >> a quick response. you're shaking your head. >> i think ifresponse, doug. >> i think if walker wins -- which people expect. i think there is always upside and downside to these things. not just spin. democrats will like it if walker wins. it says nothing about america. it says something about wisconsin. the predictable response there. it energizes people to come out in a way that they might not otherwise. >> sit tight. up next, mitt romney goes to school. why some skeptics say he has a lot to learn.

♪ [ female announcer ] life is full of little tests, but bounty basic can handle them. in this lab demo, bounty basic is stronger than the leading bargain brand. everyday life. bring it with affordably priced bounty basic. ♪ power surge, let it blow your mind. [ male announcer ] for fruits, veggies and natural green tea energy... new v8 v-fusion plus energy. could've had a v8. [ engine turns over ] [ male announcer ] we began with the rx.

[ tires squeal ] then we turned the page, creating the rx hybrid. ♪ now we've turned the page again with the all-new rx f sport. ♪ this is the next chapter for the rx and the next chapter for lexus. see your lexus dealer.

we are back with the big three. we're talking mitt romney's new outreach. last week he met with african-american leaders at a school in philadelphia. let's bring in the panel again. i'm going first to armstrong with this question. is it too cynical to think mitt romney only reached out to this particular community -- i believe it was west philadelphia, an urban community -- just for the dividends. those being, as written about by henderson, talking about you're going out to independents, to the affluent, well educated suburb voters and they make him seem inclusive. >> he has no choice but to reach out to the minority community. obviously he was very uncomfortable. it's just so hard to imagine why he's uncomfortable. he's a career politician. he was the governor of massachusetts. you would think he has american blacks in his circle of influence. he needs to get used to it.

he needs major on the job training for this issue. he has to get comfortable whether they vote for him or not. the optics are too important for him to ignore. >> is this a no-win for romney? he reaches out, gets criticized. doesn't reach out, he gets criticized. and it wasn't exactly mormon fuzzy from the other end either. >> that's their choice. armstrong has to actually do this. not just because he wants to reach out to independents or suburban women. barack obama's margins are so high in the urban communities he has to get the numbers down or he's saying, forget demographics which rule the election. he has to do it. not to mention the fact that if he were elected he would be president of everybody. >> how much does barack obama have to not take anything for granted, any voting block at

all? >> absolutely. you cannot. the bigger issue here, the interesting topic of the demographics which are shifting with more minorities becoming larger blocks in the electorate. i look at the biggest voting group is millennials, people under 35 for whom dwoeiversity a core value. it's not just checking the box for different groups but understanding the diversity of the country in a real way. the republicans are in danger of turning off that generation with the immigrant bashing and gay baiting. that turns them off. that's the bigger issue. >> quickly, i think what romney needs to do, president obama has no intention of going to black conventions to speak because he doesn't feel he has to. mitt romney needs to go to the naacp, as a keynote speaker that

he's in the room, talking to them. how are you going to respond? that's his best chance between now and the elections. >> i will give the must read. what do you want us to read, ann? >> on this topic, dan ball's take on the demographics in the country that are changing and how specific swing states, that could be important. >> thank you very much. i thank all three of you. that's a wrap. how much time do i have? oh, four seconds. we're done from washington, d.c. see you next week from new york. have a good one. to help us expand our palette... ...and prices that keep our budgets firmly rooted... ...we can mix the right soil with the right ideas. ...and bring even more color to any garden. more saving. more doing. that's the power of the home depot. get memorial day savings with 4 bags of earthgro mulch for just 10 dollars.

mcallen, texas. in here, heavy rental equipment in the middle of nowhere, is always headed somewhere. to give it a sense of direction, at&t created a mobile asset solution to protect and track everything. so every piece of equipment knows where it is, how it's doing or where it goes next. ♪ this is the bell on the cat. [ male announcer ] it's a network of possibilities -- helping you do what you do... even better. ♪ cleaning better doesn't have to take longer. i'm done.

i'm gonna...use these. ♪ give me just a little more time ♪ [ female announcer ] unlike mops, swiffer can maneuver into tight spaces and its wet mopping cloths can clean bett in half thee. mom? ♪ ahhhh! ahhhh! no it's mommy! [ female announcer ] swiffer. better clean in half the time. or your money back. ♪ captions paid for by. nbc-universal television this morning the campaign debate over who's got the skills to turn the economy around. that's what the battle over bain capital and private equity is about. the fight's not going away. while obama ally mayor cory booker makes headlines here last week by calling foul on anti-bain ads against romney. >> this is nauseating to me on both sides. it's nauseating to the american public. enough is enough. >> the president isn't